The Wild Swans at CooleThis poem was published in 1919. `Coole' refers to the Coole Park, owned by his friend LadyGregory. This park was near his house. He wrote another poem set at Coole: "Coole Park,1929." This poem depicts the park as a symbol for Irish literature.Yeats wrote this poem when he was nearing old age. Some of the key themes includenature/Ireland's beauty, old age, politics/art, love and loneliness.The poem has five stanzas consisting of six lines, each written in a roughly iambic meter, thefirst and third lines in tetrameter, the second, fourth and sixth lines in trimeter, and the fifthin pentameter. The rhyme scheme is marked in blue. This type of structure is similar tothe structure of a ballad ­ a song of emotion, love or confession.The current stanzas of these poems are different to how they were first published: originally,the current last stanza was in the middle of the poem. October/ Autumn: a time of Twilight: both change. This is a are times of period of change in change/being Yeats' life: but is it in-between beautiful? states. A The trees are in their autumn beauty, Although he `brimming' ­ B The woodland paths are dry, describes the trees imagery: C Under the October twilight the water as beautiful, he anticipation? B Mirrors a still sky; now says the path D Upon the brimming water among the stones he is walking is Fifty-nine: an E Are nine-and-fifty swans. barren/without odd number. life. Possible link to the way the speaker feels. Oxymoron: The imagery Both great passes from and broken. beautiful but Loud; grand, changing, to dry majestic. and barren, to the LINK: Leda and peaceful image of the Swan: A The nineteenth autumn has come upon me a `still sky' ­ could sexual B Since I first made my count; the place he has imagery of C I saw, before I had well finished, now reached be the swans B All suddenly mount more peaceful mounting D And scatter wheeling in great broken rings than the rest of each other. D Upon their clamorous wings. the world? The swans are a symbol of Repetition of beauty and plosive letters e.g. wildness in `clamorous' one. Unlike `paddle' `beat' ­ Yeats, they bringing an energy always to the poem,

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The Wild Swans at Cooleachieve what Yeats' anger at thethey want. A I have looked upon those brilliant creatures, swans and his ownMetaphor: He B And now my heart is sore. life choices.was younger, C All's changed since I, hearing at twilight,happier: less B The first time on this shore,weighed down D The bell-beat of their wings above my head, Plosives andby the world. D Trod with a lighter tread.…read more